Improved fruit and vegetable desiccating apparatus



J. A. MILLER.

l Fruit Drieri Patented sept. 13,1864.

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UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

J. A. MILLER, or NEW YORK, AssIeNoR To CHARLES ALBEN, or NEW- BURG, N. v.

IMPROVED FRUIT AND VEGETABLE DESICCATING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 14.260, dated September 13, 1864.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. MILLER, ot' the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented a new and Improved Apparatus for Drying and Desiccating Vegetables and other Materials; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereot, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ot' this specification, in which- Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section ofthe same.

Similar letters of reference indicate lik parts.

This invention consists in a horizontal airiue communicating, by means of a series of vertical tubes, with the interior of a tower containing movable Y perforated shelves or aprons, in combination with a furnace the heat from which strikes the bottom plate of the horizontal air-flue and passes over the same through between the vertical tubes in such a manner that the air passing through the horizontal line and vertical tubes is heated to a high temperature before it ascends into the tower,and the vegetables or other articles or material moving down over the inclined movable shelves or aprons are rapidly desiccated and dried.

The invention consists, further, in the arrangement of adjustable shutters and zigzag tlues, in combination with the movable per forated shelves and aprons, in such a manner that by opening or closing said shutters the heat can be thrown in direct contact with the lowest shelve or made to pass round two or more of the lowest shelves and brought in contact with the lowest apron, and by these means the articles or material to be desiccated can be exposed toa greater or smaller heat during various stages of the operation.

A represents a tower built of bi ick or any other suitable material to a height of. t'ty or more l'eet. The principal portion of this tower is occupied by a series ot' endless aprons, B, and movable shelves C. The aprons B are made of wire-netting, and they are stretched in inclined positions over rollers a, the axles of which have their bearings in the sides of the tower. The several aprons are arranged in such relation toward each other that the materials passing down over the tirst apron are deposited from its lowest part upon the highest part of the next succeeding apron, and so on,'as clearly shown in Fig. l. From the lowest ap'ron the material is deposited on the first shelf, (l, which is inclined in a direction opposite to that in which the apron is inclined, and which is suspended by means of links b from pivots c, inserted in the sides of the tower, or in suitable ribs or bars attached to said sides. From the lirstshelf the material to be desiccated is deposited on the second shelt', which is inclined in a direction opposite to the rst, and hung from links precisely in the same manner. The axles of the rollers a extend through one of the sides of the tower,

and they bear pulleys bt, which connect with each other by suitable belts, so that by imparting motion to one roller motion is imparted to the entire seriesy of rollers and to the endless aprons. From one of the pulleys, bt, extends a belt over the pulley b', (see Fig. 1 which is provided with cogs to act on pins projecting from the edges of the shelves C, so that by their action a shaking motion is imparted to the shelves.

D is the furnace, which is situated in the lower part of the tower, below the air-flue E. This flue extends transversely through the tower, being open on both sides, (as clearly shown in Fig. 2,) and from the top plate of this air-flue rise a largenumber of pipes o', to conduct the air through the tube-sheet d into the interior of the tower. The heat from the tire in the furnace passes under the bottom plate of the air-flue round its end and back over the top plate of said tlue to the chimney F, which is partitioned oft' from the interior of the tower by the vertical wall e. In passing back over the top plate of the air-Hue the heat comes in contact with the pipes c', and the air which, on entering the airtlue, is heated by the re striking the bottom plate, is brought to a high temperature as it passes up through the pipes c. The air thus heated may be either passed directly up into the tower, where it comes in contact with the lowest shelf, passes through the meshes or slats of the same to the second shelf, and so on through the several shelves and aprons until it reaches the escape or feed openingfin the top of the tower; or, instead of this, the heated air may be partially or Wholly shut off from the lowest shelf by means of shutters G, which are situated under said shelf, and which can be opened and closed by a rod, g, from the eX- terior of the tower. If these shutters are closed, t-he heated air emanating from the pipes c passes up through the zigzag iiues H, and it is admitted to the interior of the tower unders the apron and abovethe shelves, as clearly shown in the drawings.

The articles to be desiccated are fed to the upper apron through the Opening f, and in passing down over this apron they are partially dried. From the first apron said articles are delivered to the second apron, and so on until they have come to such a state of dryness that When they arrive on the upper shelf they will readily slide down thereon, aided in their motion by the shaking imparted to said shelf, and nd their way to the second shelf, i nel so on until they are finally discharged from the last shelf through the discharge-aperture h.

This apparatus is applicable for desiccating grain, our, vegetables of any description, and also for drying Wool or other fibrous materials, and it can be Worked with little power and almost Without requiring any hand labor.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentw 1. The horizontal air-flue E, vertical pipesv JOS. A. MILLER.

l/Vitnesses:

W. HAUFF, J. P. HALL. 

